Brazil and Poland ready to battle for place in World League Finals
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The press conference in Tampere, Finland |
Tampere, Finland, June 14, 2012 – Brazil and Poland are in Finland this week as they continue their battle for a place in the Finals of the FIVB World League. While Poland have the better win-loss record in Pool B (7-2 against Brazil’s 6-3) the South Americans have the edge in points, 21-20.
Finland will be hoping for some good performances in front of their home fans, while Canada will be looking to improve their 2-7 record and raise themselves off the bottom of the four-team table.
With only the four pool winners and the two best runners-up advancing to the Finals, the competition will remain intense to the end.
“I think this is interesting situation in this very important tournament,” Brazil coach Bernardo Rezende said. “Every team is fighting for something; Brazil and Poland want to go to Finals. We go step by step. We have to be very focused every day. We are still trying players for the Olympics. We hope we can play well here. Giba and Vissotto will be back on the team.” Giba has recovered from a leg injury
Poland coach Andrea Anastasi stressed the importance of staying strong: “We must stay focused. First we play against Finland on Friday. Bulgaria is of course our goal. First we want to win against Finland and then go to win the next match.”
Finland captain Tuomas Sammelvuo admits his team is out of the running. “The situation in this tournament is pretty clear: Poland and Brazil fight for the place in the Finals,” he said. “Finland and Canada play for a place in next year's World League. Our clear target is the third place in this pool.”
Finland coach Daniel Castellani said the competition hadn’t been easy. “For us, it has been a hard World League. We have had many problems. I am happy that in spite of these problems, our team has fought well. We try to play these three matches as best as possible. Support from the great Finnish fans makes it easier for us.”
Canada captain Frederic Winters said his team still have some tough competition ahead. “This is important weekend for us. We have had rough time on the road. Now we have had some player changes and had trouble finding our own game. We want to challenge Finland here in our last game on Sunday, but we can also challenge Poland and Brazil on Friday and Saturday. We are ready to fight.”
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